I am very interested in learning more about Islam (NOT because I want to convert) so I would like to ask two questions regarding Islam or rather application of this religion.

I am a Bahai whose parents had to run away from Iran in order to save their lives. Unfortunately, since then my family has felt deep antipathy for Islam. I am more open-minded and would like to know if it's true that Islam restricts rights of adherents of other religions and even permits persecution of them.

I know that you may have answered questions akin to mine millions of times but the real problem is that Bahais were blamed for distorting the image of Islam and Mohammed and even betraying the latter. Many Muslims actually thought it was their duty to discriminate against Bahais because we presumably misinterpreted the Quran (as a matter of fact, the Quran is not our holy book at all). Many thought were "cultists" and "pagans". Are their any fatwahs on Bahaism?

Also, what's more important to me is that my mother was forced to veil herself at times (and after the revolution all the time), although Baha'i Faith is totally against the veil. Under the Shariah, are non-Muslim women forced to wear the veil? This experience was very degrading, since she never wanted to veil herself and felt very miserable wearing this attire. I admit it's a strange question.

Of course, I'd appreciate your own feelings about Baha'i Faith (if you have ever heard of it).

Though I am not an expert of Islam neither I claim to know anything about Bhai, however, I am a so called "self learned" muslim, and would try to reply to some of your questions. I don't know about any fatwas on any other religion from Islam's point of view (other than what is found in Quran and sunnah) what to talk of a sect of Islam "Bhaism". Since I don't anything about Bhaism, so I can't comment as to what they believe is contrary to Islam and what no contrary to Islam.

Islam or for that matter any relegion, has to be judged from its scriptural teachings rather than their adharent's actions or doings. Only those who are illerate has an excuse to blindly follow others but that too, till the time they don't know how to read or understand the literature. They are advised by our beloved Prophet Mohammad to get knowlegde as soon as possible even if they have to travel a long distances to do it. So, it would be real mistake if someone simply perform religious rituals as a daily chores without understanding their meaning. True guidance about Islam comes through two main sources, i.e. Quran and Sunnah of Prophet Mohammad. Its not difficult to understand Quran espially if someone is sincere in its motives to take guidance out of it. However, if Quran is the "law" then how to obey the law, comes from the practices (Sunnah) of Prophet Mohammad. This makes it all the more easy to understand Islam in its right perspective.

There is no coerce in Islam. Islam can't be imposed on people to follow it. But those who do it, they only profess their political motives and nothing else. It is for this very reason that the Muslim world is at the top of list of third world countries.

There is no arguments in support of forcing anyone to observe any particular right or ritual in Islam. Allah has very clearly mentioned in Quran that He has provided the knowledge (Quran) for people to take guidance for their own benefit. If they please Allah by obeying His commands, it is for their own benefit and if they don't, their actions they can't frustrate Allah. Allah has no need for our actions, good or bad. It is only for our own benefit to recognise Him and obey Him. This is the core message of Islam that I thought to share it with you. Similarly, in specific to veiling or not veiling, or for that matter how much veiling, are all upto an individual how he/she deem fit to apply them. No compulsion. But if someone obeys Him, he definitely get rewarded for what he has done it and no action shall go wasted. Every action of human being shall be accounted for and the individual has to be responsible for himself alone. Hope this shall give you a breif picture of Islam, but ofcourse need more details. May other fellow brothers and sister put their cents (two or two hundred) into it. Rest Allah knows the best. May Allah's blessing for all. Amen.

My discovery of Holy Quran was tortuous and led me through strange by-waysbut since the end of the road was supremely worthwhile, I have neverregretted my experiences.As a small child I possessed a keen ear for music and was particularly fond ofthe classical operas and symphonies considered the high culture in the West.Music was my favorite subject in school in which I always earned the highestgrades. By sheer chance, when I was about eleven years old, I happened tohear Arabic music over the radio which so much pleased me that I wasdetermined to hear more. As soon as I heard Arabic music, Western music atonce lost of all its appeal for me. I would not leave my parents in peace untilmy father finally took me to the Syrian section in New York City where Ibrought a stack of Arabic recordings for my gramophone. The one I liked bestwas a rendition of the Surah Maryam of the Holy Quran chanted by UmKulthum. Then in 1946, I could not foresee what an evil woman she was tobecome in her later years; I admired her for her beautiful voice which renderedthose passages of Holy Quran with such intense feeling and devotion. It was bylistening to these recordings by the hour that I came to love the sound ofArabic even though I could not understand it. Without this basic appreciation ofthe Arabic musical idiom, which sounds so utterly strange to the Westerner, Icould not possibly have grown to love Tilawat (Recitation). My parents,relatives and neighbors thought Arabic and its music dreadfully weird and sodistressing to their ears that whenever I put on my recordings, they demandedthat I close all the doors and windows of my room lest they be disturbed! AfterI embraced Islam in 1961, I used to sit enthralled by the hour at the mosque inNew York, listening to tape-recordings of Tilawat (Recitation) chanted by thecelebrated Egyptian Qari, Abdul Basit. But one Fuma Salat, the Imam did notplay the tapes. We had a special guest ---- a short, very thin and poorly-dressedblack youth who introduced himself to us as a student from Zanzibar; buy whenhe opened his mouth to recite Surah ar-Rahman, I never heard such gloriousTilawat (Recitation) even from Abdul Basit! This obscure African adolescentpossessed such a voice of gold; surely Hazrat Bilal must have sounded muchlike him!From the age of ten I had developed a passion for reading all the books aboutthe Arabs I could lay my hands on at school or at the public libraries in mycommunity, especially those dealing with the historical relationship betweenthe Jews and Arabs, but it was not until more than nine years later that it everoccurred to me to satisfy my curiosity about the Holy Quran. Gradually,however, as I neared the end of the Arabs who had made Islam great but Islam which had raised the Arabs from wild desert tribes to the masters of the world.It was not until I wanted to find out just how and why this had happened that Iever thought to read the Holy Quran for myself;In the summer of 1953 I overstrained myself at college by taking an acceleratedcourse of too many subjects. That August I fell ill and had to discontinue allwork for the remainder of the season. One evening when my mother was aboutto go to the public library, she asked me if there was any book I wanted. Iasked her for a copy of Holy Quran. An hour later she returned with one-atranslation by the eighteenth century Christian missionary and scholar-George Sale. Because of the extremely archaic language and the copiousfootnotes quoting from al-Baidawi and Zamakhshari out of context in order torefute them from the Christian viewpoint, I understood very little. At thattime, my immature mind regarded Quran as nothing more than distorted andgarbled versions of the familiar stories from the Bible! Although my firstimpression of Holy Quran was unfavorable, I could not tear myself away fromit. I read it almost continuously for three days and nights and when I hadfinished, all my strength had been drained away! Although I was only nineteen,I felt as weak as a woman of eighty. I never recovered my fully strength orenergy afterwards.I continued to nurse this poor opinion of Holy Quran until one day I found in abookshop a cheap paper-back edition of Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall’stranslation. As soon as I opened that book, it proved a revelation! The powerfuleloquence literally swept me off my feet. In the first paragraph of his preface,Pickthall wrote :The aim of this work is to present to English readers what Muslims the worldover hold to be the meaning of the words of the Quran and the nature of thatBook in not unworthy language and concisely with a view to the requirementsof English – speaking Muslims. It may reasonably be claimed that no HolyScripture can be fairly presented by one who disbelievers its inspiration and itsmessage and this is the first English at once recognize as unworthy. The Qurancannot be translated. That is the conviction of the old-fashioned Shaikhs andthe view of the present writer. The Book here is rendered almost literally andevery effort is made to choose befitting language, but the result it not theGlorious Quran, that inimitable symphony, the very sounds of which move mento tears and ecstasy. It is only an attempt to present the meaning of theQuran—and, peradventure, something of the charm-in English. It can nevertake the place of the Quran in Arabic nor is it meant to do so.I then realized why George Sale’s translation was most unfair. From thenon, I refused to read his or any other renderings of Holy Quran by non-Muslims. After reading Pickthall’s rendition, I discovered other Englishtranslations by Yusuf Ali, Muhammad Ali Lahori and Maulana Abdul MajidDaryabadi. I found the commentation by Yusuf Ali and Muhammad Ali Lahori offensive because of their apologetic tone and far-fetched and unconvincingattempts to explain away those passages conflicting with modern philosophiesor scientific concepts. Their translation of the Text was also weak. AlthoughMaulana Daryabadi’s attempts to pattern his translation of the Holy Quran onthe archaic style of the King Jame’s version of the Bible most annoyed me, Ifound his commentary excellent, particularly those parts dealing withcomparative religion and learned much from it. However, Pickthall’s renditionremained my favorite and to this day, I have never found any other Englishtranslation that can equal it. The sweep of eloquence, the virility and dignityof the language is unsurpassed in any other translation. Most other translationscommit the mistake of using the word “God” but Pickthall retains “Allah”throughout. This makes the message of Islam strike the Western reader as moreauthentic and effective. Throughout the darkest days during my years ofhospitalization, I kept a paper-back edition of Pickthall’s translation with me asmy constant companion which I read over so many times, I must have worn topieces of half dozen copies. May Allah abundantly reward Pickthall with thechoicest blessings for making the knowledge about the Quran so easily andcheaply available to England and America! Were it not for him, I would nothave been able to know and appreciate it.After my discharge in 1959, I spent much of my leisure time reading booksabout Islam in the Oriental Division of the New York Public Library. It was thereI discovered four bulky volumes of an English translation of Mishkat ul Masabihby Al-Haj Maulana Fazlur Rahman of Calcutta. It was then I learned that aproper and detailed understanding of Holy Quran is not possible without someknowledge of the relevant Hadith, for how can the Holy Text correctly beinterpreted except by the Prophet to whom it was revealed? Those whodisbelieve the Hadith also disbelieve the Quran for its revelation explicity tellsus that one cannot follow what God wants us to do without an unquestioningacceptance of the authority of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace andblessings of Allah be upon him).Once I had studied the Mishkat, I began to accept the Holy Quran as Divinerevelation. What persuaded me that the Quran must be from God and notcomposed by Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was itssatisfying and convincing answers to all the most important questions of lifewhich I could not find elsewhere.As a child, I was so mortally afraid of death, particularly the thought of my owndeath, that after nightmare about it, sometimes I would awaken my parentscrying in the middle of the night. When I asked them why I had to die and whatwould happen to me after death, all they could say was that I had to acceptthe inevitable but that was a long way off and because medical science wasconstantly advancing, perhaps I would live to be a hundred years old! Myparents, the remainder of my family and all our friends contemptuouslyrejected as superstition any thought of Hereafter, regarding Judgment Day,reward in Paradise or punishment in Hell as outmoded concepts of by-goneages. In vain I searched all the verbose chapters of the Old Testament for anyclear and unambiguous concept of Hereafter. The prophets, patriarchs andsages of the Bible all receive their rewards or punishments in this world.Typical is the story of Job (Hazrat Ayub). God destroyed all his loved-ones, hispossessions and afflicted him with loathsome disease in order to test his faith.Job plaintively laments to God why He should make a righteous man suffer. Atthe end of the story, God restores all his earthly losses but nothing is evenmentioned about any possible consequences in the Hereafter. Although I didfind the Hereafter mentioned in the New Testament, compared with that ofHoly Quran, it is vague and ambiguous. I found no answer to the question ofdeath in Orthodox Judaism, for the Talmud preaches that even the worst life isbetter than the best death. My parents’ philosophy was that one must avoidcontemplating the thought of death and just enjoy as best one can, thepleasures life has to offer at the moment. According to them, the purpose oflife is enjoyment and pleasure achieved through self-expression of one’stalents, the love of family, the congenial company of friends combined withthe comfortable living and indulgence in the variety of amusements thataffluent America makes available in such abundance. They deliberatelycultivated this superficial approach to life as if it were the guarantee for theircontinued happiness and good-fortune. Through bitter experience I discoveredthat self-indulgence leads only to misery and that nothing great or evenworthwhile is ever accomplished without struggle through adversity and selfsacrifice.From earliest childhood I have always wanted to accomplishimportant and significant things. Above all else, before my death I want theassurance that I have not wasted my life in sinful deeds or worthless pursuits.All my life I have been intensely serious-minded. I have always detested thefrivolity which is the dominant characteristic of contemporary culture. Myfather once disturbed me with his unsettling conviction that there is no hing ofpermanent value and because everything in this modern age continuallychanges all the time, the best we can do is accept the present trends asinevitable and adjust ourselves to them. I, however, was thirsty to attainsomething that would endure forever. It was from the Holy Quran where Ilearned that this aspiration was possible. No good deed for the sake of seekingthe pleasure of God is ever wasted or lost. Even if the person concerned neverachieves any worldly recognition, his reward is certain in the Hereafter.Conversely, Quran tells us that those who are guided by no moralconsiderations other that expediency or social conformity and crave thefreedom to do as they please, no matter how much worldly success andprosperity they attain or how keenly they are able to relish the short span oftheir earthly life, will be doomed as the losers on Judgment Day. Islam teachesus that in order to devote our exclusive attention to fulfilling our duties to Godand to our fellow-beings; we must abandon all vain and useless activities whichdistract us from this end. These teachings of Holy Quran, made even moreexplicit by Hadith, were thoroughly compatible with my temperament. When Iembraced Islam, my parents, relatives and their friends regarded me almost as a fanatic, because I could think and talk of nothing else. To them, religion is apurely private concern which at the most perhaps could be cultivated like anamateur hobby among other hobbies. But as soon as I read Holy Quran, I knewthat Islam was no hobby but life itself!From the onset of my adolescence until my migration to Pakistan at the ageof twenty-eight, I was a hopeless misfit. A young girl as serious minded as Iwas, always with a pile of books at the library, who abhorred the cinema,dancing and “pop” music, who did not enjoy “dating” and mixed partiesand who took no interest in romance, glamour, cosmetics, jewelry orfashionable clothes, had to pay the full penalty of social ostracism for being“different.”From a bleak future in America, which had no place for a person like me, Iescaped when migrated to Pakistan. Although Pakistan, like every other Muslimcountry, is being increasingly contaminated by the most noxious dirt fromEurope and America, still a sufficient number of Pakistanis remain goodMuslims to provide an environment which makes it possible for the individualto lead a life in conformity to what Islam teaches. At times, I must admit, I failto apply to my own life what Islam demands that we practice, but I neverindulge in far-fetched interpretations of Quran or Sunnah to justify myweaknesses and shortcomings. Whenever I do wrong, I readily admit it and trymy best to rectify my mistake. The happiness I have found in my new life isentirely due to the fact that just those qualities of character andtemperament, Western society ridicules and scorns, in Islam are most keenlyappreciated and esteemed.THE HOLY PROPHET AND HIS IMPACT ON MY LIFEEver since the days of my early childhood, my life has been dominated by areligious outlook. This does not even exclude my adolescence and early youthwhen, due to my disillusionment with the established Jewish synagogue andChristian churches, I professed atheism for even then, my life was religious inthe sense that I was always in search for the absolute Truth which alone giveshuman life its meanings, direction and purpose. I was not, however, raised in areligious atmosphere. My family and their friends, having been thoroughlyintegrated into American life, were Jews only nominally. They were thoroughlydecent, respectable, intelligent, broad-minded, cultured people who firmlybelieved in and observed all the basic moral laws yet they denied that ethicalbehavior was dependent upon theology; in fact, they could not evenunderstand the relevance between the two. All of them regarded anyconception of Divine reward and punishment in life after death as an outmodedsuperstitious belief of by-gone ages. Any concept of a personal Diety Who directly intervenes into human affairs and would listen to the supplications ofHis devotees, Divine revelation and Prophethood was also scorned for the samereasons. As soon as I was repelled by the dominant values of my society, thepurpose of which is happiness, pleasure and enjoyment while I longed above allelse to achieve something eternally worth while. Since, according to thisoutlook, there are no answers to the ultimate, one must avoid thinking aboutthem and just enjoy as best one can, the transitory pleasures life has to offerat the moment --- good health, tasty food, comfortable living, the love offamily, the companionship of congenial friends and the variety ofentertainments and amusements which modern America makes available insuch abundance. Never ask oneself, why we were born, who created us, what isthe purpose of our life, why we must die and what will happen to us afterdeath, lest one be afflicted with depression, pessimism and despondency.Americans are often praised by outsiders because they are not “static” andlove, nay, worship---Change. According to these “progressives,” America issynonymous with Progress because it is supposedly the only country unimpededby “rigid, archaic philosophies, social and religious, and therefore able tonourish creative Change.” I never shared this worship of Change for its ownsake. To me, the absence of permanence and stability in anything means theoutright denial of its value and makes life frivolous and superficial. My questwas always for absolutes.Neither Judaism nor Christianity could satisfy me. I was repelled by the narrow,parochial-mindedness of the synagogue and horrified by the atrocities ofZionism against the indigenous Arabs of Palestine. I could never reconcilemyself to the complicated, incomprehensible theology of the Christians and theendless compromises of the Church with moral, social, political and economicevils. Both the synagogue and the Church, as I encountered them, were filledwith corruption and hypocrisy. In the course of what Jewish training I received,it was but natural for me to be curious about the faith historically most closelyakin to Judaism. I found that I could not learn about the Arabs without alsolearning about Islam and its civilization and as soon as I discovered that it wasnot the Arabs who had made Islam great but the other way around, I wanted toknow as much about this faith as I could. The superiority of the Quran over theBible to me lay in its all-embracing universality in contrast to the narrow, rigidnationalism of the Jewish scriptures. As this universality makes for the superiormorality, it has exerted a drastic effect on the historical development of thesereligions and civilizations shaped by them.In Islam, my quest for absolute values was satisfied. In Islam I found all thatwas true, good and beautiful and which gives meaning and direction to humanlife (and death) while in other religions, the Truth is deformed, distorted,restricted and fragmentary. If anyone chooses to ask me how I came to knowthis, I can only reply that my personal life experience was sufficient toconvince me. My adherence to the Islamic faith is thus a calm, cool but veryintense conviction. Unlike some other converts, I never saw the Holy Prophet in my dreams during sleep at night; I never experienced any mystical vision andnothing dramatic at the time of my conversion ever happened. Since I have, Ibelieve, always been a Muslim at heart and by temperament, even before Ieven knew there was such a thing as Islam, my conversion was mainly aformality, inv olving no radical change in my heart at all but rather only makingofficial what I had been thinking and yearning for many years.Soon after I began the study of the Quran, I discovered that a properunderstanding of it is impossible without some knowledge of the relevantHadith, for who is better qualified to interpret the Quran than the man towhom it was revealed? The Quran provides us with the general outline of thelife ordained by Islam but only the Hadith fill in all the necessary details. Tothose who deny the validity of this only authoritative interpretation of Quran:When the Prophet’s wife, Ayesha, was asked to described the mode of his lifeand conduct, she replied; “His morals are the Quran.” In other words, hisdaily life was a true picture of the Quranic teachings. He was an embodimentof all the virtues which have been enunciated by the Quran. The record of hislife which sheds light on his conduct as a child, as a father, as a neighbor, as amerchant, as a preacher, as a persecuted fugitive, as a friend, as a warrior, asan army commander, as a conqueror, as a judge, as a law-giver, as a ruler andabove all, as a devotee of Allah, was all an exemplification of the Book ofAllah.The sincerity and purity of his pious living was clearly revealed in his dailyroutine.The daily routine of his life was extremely rigorous. After the dawn Salat, hereceived people so as to educate them. He even settled disputes andadministered justice, received envoys and dictated dispatches and then theassembly was adjourned. The public function now over, he used to go to one ofhis wives and do any work she wanted. He even went to the market forshopping. Then another short prayer was performed after which he visited thesick and the poor and called at the houses of his friends and then he went tothe mosque for Zuhr Salat. After returning from the mosque, he took his meal,if it was available, and then returned to his private apartment for some restand then went again to the mosque for the Asr Salat. Afterwards the HolyProphet would go to his wives and sit with them until children claimed histime. He led the Maghrib Salat and then took his evening meal and thenreturned to his home for prayers in solitude and rest. He slept for a few hoursonly and then rose and prayed and meditated and again retired to bed only fora brief time, rising again for the dawn Salat when the day’s work began oncemore. His energy was extraordinary. He seldom complained of fatigue.Now let us see how this pious life affected the activities of his womenfolk:Hazrat Ali once asked one of his pupils: Shall I tell you the story of Fatima, thedearest and most loved daughter of Prophet? When the pupil replied in theaffirmative, he said: “Fatima used to grind the grain herself which causedcalluses on her hands. She carried water for the house in a leather bag whichcaused scars on her breast. She cleaned the house herself which made herclothes dirty. Once when some war-captives were brought to Medina, I said toher: “Go to the Prophet and request him for a servant to help you in yourhousework.” She went to him but found many people round him. As she wasvery modest, she could not be bold enough to request the Prophet in thepresence of other people. Next day the Prophet came to our house and said:“Fatima, what made you come to me yesterday?” She felt shy and kept quiet. Isaid: “O Prophet of Allah, Fatima has developed calluses on her hands andbreasts on account of grinding grain and carrying water. She is constantly busyin cleaning the house and in other domestic work, causing her clothes toremain dirty. I informed her about the captives and advised her to go to youand request a servant.” The Prophet replied: “Fatima! Fear Allah! AcquireTaqwa (piety) and when you go to bed, recite, Subhanallah 33 times,Alhamdulillah 33 times and Allahu Akbar 34 times. This you will find morehelpful than a servant.” Fatima said: “I am content with Allah and HisProphet.”And how did the Prophet’s wives spend their time?Ayesha said: Maymuna was the most pious and most faithful of her kinamong all the Prophet’s wives. She was seen either engaged in Salat or indomestic duties. When she was doing neither, she was busy cleaning her teethwith the miswaq.This will not appeal to the advocates of the so-called “Women’s Liberation.”The immediate reaction of the modern-minded woman to this is dismay. Shewill certainly ask me how I as a twentieth-century woman, born and reared inmodern America could possibly endorse such an apparently poor and limitedlife? The answer is that to the Holy Prophet, depth of experience was moreimportant than breadth. The fast pace of modern, mechanized living where tobe active and “always on the run” are in themselves regarded as supremevirtues, the experiences of modern men and women may be broad and varied,yet their minds remain superficial, fickle and shallow. I would point out to herthe fact that many modern American women are unhappy even though they cando virtually anything they please. They enjoy the highest standard of living inhistory; they are the best-dressed, best-groomed, best-fed, best-housedwomen anywhere with the least drudgery; they have the most freedom, thegreatest variety of interesting social contacts, are unexcelled in the extent oftheir secular education and have the widest possible opportunity to enrich theirself-indulgence and can do whatever they want, yet despite all these materialadvantages, too many American women are restless, dissatisfied and evenneurotic.For the Holy Prophet, the purpose of life was achievement---notenjoyment. Pleasure and happiness in Islam are but the natural by-products of emotional satisfaction in one’s duties being conscientiously performed for thepleasure of God to gain salvation in the life to come. In the materialistic world,achievement is equated with the capturing of political or economic power,fulfillment in the arts and sciences and acquiring fame, if one is exceptionallygifted, or enjoying an ample income from business and commerce. In Islam,achievement is rated on accomplishing what is enduring and worth whilethrough useful, benevolent and productive work and to refrain from wastingone’s time in empty self-gratification disgraced by sinful deeds. The SupremeAchievement is to attain, through implicit obedience to Quran and Sunnah,eternal salvation in the world to come.This was the dominant theme of all the teachings of the Holy Prophet as shownin the following oration which he delivered at the mosque in Medina in the firstyear of the Hijra :O people! Make provision for yourselves in advance. You should know by Allaheveryone of you will indeed faint; then he will leave his cattle without ashepherd. Then his Lord will say to him---while there will be neither any guideat hand nor any shelter to hide him---“Did My Messenger not approach you anddeliver My revelation to you? I bestowed wealth and favor upon you. Whatprovision did you make for yourself?” He will certainly look to the right and tothe left but he will find nothing to help him. Then he will cast his glance to hisfront but will see only Hell-fire! So he who is able to save his face from theFire, though by means only of a bit of date, should certainly do that and hewho cannot afford it, then do it by means of a kind word. For the good actionwill be rewarded and increased from ten to seven hundred times.And at Tabuk in Syria in 9 A.H. the Holy Prophet proclaimed :Verily the most veracious discourse is the Book of Allah. The most trustworthyhandhold is the word of piety. The best of the religions is the faith of Ibrahim.The best of precedents is the precedent of Muhammad. The noblest speech isthe invocation of Allah. The finest narratives is this Quran; the best affairs isthat which has been already firmly resolved upon and the worst thing inreligion are innovations. The best of the ways is the path of the prophets. Thenoblest death is the death of martyrdom. The greatest blindness is going astrayafter guidance. The best of actions is that which benefits. The best guidance isthat which is followed in practice. The worst blindness is the blindness of theheart.The little but sufficient is better than the abundant but alluring. The worstapology is that which is made at the point of death. The worst regret is thatwhich will be felt on the Day of Resurrection.Thus the Holy Prophet has revealed to me personally and to all mankind for alltimes in all places the purpose of human life and what is important and what is not. Unlike Hinduism, Buddhism and classical Christianity, the Holy Prophetrepudiated monasticism and self-mortification as the path to the spiritual life.With his perfect emotional balance, he did not shun the legitimate pleasures ofthis life. The Holy Prophet was endowed with a fine sense of humor andoccasionally even joined children in their games but nevertheless he neverceased to emphasize that the interests of this world must always besubordinated by the Believer to that of the next world. He often told hisCompanions that “If you had seen what I have seen (of the Life Hereafter), youcertainly would have laughed little and wept much.”The prayers and supplications of the Holy Prophet prove his unmatcheddevotion to Allah as the supreme end of life above all worldly considerations.Before going to sleep each night he never failed to plea:O Allah! Save me from the pangs of the Day of Resurrection!O Allah! In Thy Name do I die and live.-----Maryam JameelahAn IntroductionMaryam Jameelah was born in 1934 in New York at the height of the GreatDepression a fourth-generation American of German Jewish origin.She was reared in Westchester, one of the most prosperous and populatedsuburbs of New York and received a thoroughly secular American education atthe local public schools. Always an above-average student, she soon became apassionate intellectual and insatiable bibliophile, hardly ever without a bookin hand, her readings extending far beyond the requirements of the schoolcurriculum. As she entered adolescence, she became intensely seriousminded,scorning all frivolities, which is very rare for an otherwise attractiveyoung girl. Her main interests were religion, philosophy, history,anthropology, sociology, psychology and biology. The school and localcommunity public libraries and later, the New York Public Library, became"her second home."After her graduation from secondary school in the summer of 1952, she wasadmitted to New York University where she studied a general liberal artsprogram. While at the university, she became severely ill in 1953, grew steadily worse and had to discontinue college two years later without earningany diploma. She was confined to private and public hospitals for two years(1957-1959) and only after her discharge did she discover her facility forwriting. Allama Muhammad Asad's two book: -his autobiographical The Roadto Mecca and Islam at the Crossroads ignited her interest in Islam and aftercorrespondence with some prominent Muslims in Muslim lands and makingintimate friends with some Muslim converts in New York, she embraced Islam atthe Islamic Mission in Brooklyn; New York at the hand of Shaikh Daoud AhmadFaisal, who then changed her name from Margaret Marcus to Maryam Jameelah.During extensive correspondence with Muslims throughout the world and readingand making literary contributions to whatever Muslim periodicals were availablein English, Maryam Jameelah became acquainted with the writings of MaulanaSayyid Abul Ala Maududi and so, beginning in December 1960 they exchangedletters regularly In the spring of 1962, Maulana Maududi invited MaryamJameelah to migrate to Pakistan and live as a member of his family in Lahore.Maryam Jameelah accepted the offer and a year later, married Mohammad YusufKhan, a whole-time worker for the Jama'at-e-Islami who later became thepublisher of all her books. She subsequently became the mother of fourchildren, living with her co-wife and her children in a large extended householdof in-laws. Most unusual for a woman after marriage, she continued all herintellectual interests and literary activities; in fact, her most important writingswere done during and in between pregnancies. She observes Purdah/Hijabstrictly.Her hatred of atheism and materialism in all its varied manifestations-past andpresent-is intense and in her restless quest for absolute, transcendental ideals,she upholds Islam as the most emotionally arid intellectually satisfyingexplanation to the Ultimate Truth which alone gives life (and death) meaning,direction, purpose and value.

Thanks of course for the story of that convert but I believe I've pointed out that I am not interested in converting to Islam. I found my peace of mind in Bahai Faith. I don't want to appear overly aggressive but I could post scores of testimonies of converts to Bahaism - but what's the point?

As for this very story, I can't say I am dreaming of being a co-wife or a mother of four.

thank you very much for your post. In fact, I don't think Bahaism is a sect of Islam any longer because my religion is very different from Islam. However, the greatest similarity between our religions is our abiding faith in God and acknowledgment of the prophet Mohammed - and it's extremely important. But Bahais also think that, for example, Lord Buddha was the prophet of God; he was sent to upgrade Hinduism.

Well, I am happy that Islam is different from what some people practise. One more question - should unveiled women be treated as veiled? Or can unveiled women be considered somewhat inferior to Muslimahs? Often I hear my Muslim friends saying that women who don't wear veils are sluts but it's not true!

One more question - should unveiled women be treated as veiled? Or can unveiled women be considered somewhat inferior to Muslimahs? Often I hear my Muslim friends saying that women who don't wear veils are sluts but it's not true!

Islam has many aspects, not only dressing code. Regardless veils is mandatory or not, dressing is only one aspect, maybe one muslimah is good in one aspect let say dressing but probably she is not quite good other things let say shalat or charity or attitude or etc. So in my opinion the answer of first your question is YES and NO for the second one.

Edited by semar

Salam/Peace,
Semar
The Prophet said: "Do not eat before you are hungry, and stop eating before you are full"
"1/3 of your stomach for food 1/3 for water, 1/3 for air"

thank you very much for your post. In fact, I don't think Bahaism is a sect of Islam any longer because my religion is very different from Islam. However, the greatest similarity between our religions is our abiding faith in God and acknowledgment of the prophet Mohammed - and it's extremely important. But Bahais also think that, for example, Lord Buddha was the prophet of God; he was sent to upgrade Hinduism.

Well, I am happy that Islam is different from what some people practise. One more question - should unveiled women be treated as veiled? Or can unveiled women be considered somewhat inferior to Muslimahs? Often I hear my Muslim friends saying that women who don't wear veils are sluts but it's not true!

Sis Anne,

In my opinion, anyone among the people of the book, who believes in the oneness of Allah has a reward for his faith in the life hereafter. Coming to those who also believe in Prophet Mohammad (hence the Quran), one gets more closer to the right path and needless to say what would be there reward in the life hereafter. So it is in this sense that I consider Bhai's as a sect of Islam, probably differing on the books of hadiths as to what to admit in their daily life and what not to admit from the sunnah of our beloved Prophet Mohammad.

As to your question of differencing between the two, I would say that since Allah has sent numerous (almost hundred and twenty four thousand) prophets to earth for the guidance of mankind and only few are known either through Quran or through Sunnah of Prophet Mohammad, there is a large list of those that we don't know about them. There is all the possibility that Lord Buddha could be one of them. Not only he, I believe, behind all relegions there must be Prophet who might have brought Allah's message to recognize just One God and don't make Shirk in His entity. But by the passage of time, the people got diverted from the right path. The teachings of these prophets got tempered with their own people of later generations till that they don't appear anymore to be monolithic in their doctrines. There is a very good aritcle about Hinduism on this forum, that may help you look at it from an islamic scholars perspective.

Now coming to your question regarding veil, in my humble understanding of Islam, such acts of a muslim only he/she is answerable to Allah, therefore the issue of veil for an individaul is only his/her private matter. I am using word 'his' because literally, it is the duty of male also who has to take care of his veil as well. Here the veil is not the customary veil of head gear or any similar thing, but he has to protect his gaze from wandering here and there. There are minimum guidelines that are provided in the Quran and anyone believing in Quran is expected to follow them through letter and spirit. But those who don't follow it, their actions are only answerable to Allah only. I don't think that those who don't veil are necessarily sluts. This is a big misconception in the minds of those who have very little vision of life. No one can judge the others on the matter of faith. So it is really beyond my comprehension to consider other person inferior to others just on the basis of veil. May be he/she has more other faith based actions which Allah loves more than merely a veil and no one knows about it. However, those who love Allah and obeys Him in all His commands, only they are the ones who have more reward from Allah. But of course its not for people to judge others. Another thing to note is the level of veiling is quite a cultural issue and varies drastically from one culture to another even within the same country. So people usually have preconcieved ideas about "Islamic veil" based on their cultural backgrounds. The Quran is very clear in its requirements about veil and I think its upon everyone who accepts Quran as the true word of God, should follow them without hesitation. Here are few that I found it on the website. Quran 24:30-31

[30] Say to the believing men that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty: that will make for greater purity for them: and Allah is well acquainted with all that they do.

[31] And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what (must ordinarily) appear thereof; that they should draw their veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty except to their husbands, their fathers, their husbands' fathers, their sons, their husbands' sons, their brothers or their brothers' sons, or their sisters' sons, or their women, or the slaves whom their right hands possess, or male servants free of physical needs, or small children who have no sense of the shame of sex; and that they should not strike their feet in order to draw attention to their hidden ornaments. And O ye Believers! turn ye all together towards Allah, that ye may attain Bliss

I think, with this I have tried my best to answer your questions according to own understanding. BTW, the question of veil is quite frequently discussed in my home as well. Without saying anything, I refer to my wife these verses of Quran and leave the decision to her to adopt whatever she considers best for her; after all its her decision what to do about her obedience to Allah. My job is to simply guide her what I know about the issue from Quran. Rest Allah knows the best. May Allah bless us all for the right guidance. Amen.

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